A new report issued by PricewaterhouseCoopers suggests that the healthcare industry will be a promising place in which to work and invest over the next decade.
PwC's "HealthCast" report, which analyzed the influence of consumerism, genomics and the Internet on healthcare, concludes that healthcare jobs – including new positions such as healthcare navigators, health educators and care coordinators – will be in high demand.
There should also be an increasing need for primary care physicians, nurses and physician's assistants, according to researchers.
"From a business/economic perspective, PwC is extremely bullish on prospects for dramatic improvements in healthcare," a PwC spokeswoman said. "The healthcare system is really getting 'wired up' and will provide major cost savings in the very near term."
PWC's Health Research Institute based the study on a survey of 590 leaders of health plans, providers, government, employers, physician groups and pharmaceutical and life science firms in 20 countries.
According to PWC's forecast, the next phase of healthcare reform in the United States will focus on increasing patient involvement in their care.
"If patients are not engaged, it is impossible to adequately manage care, consumption and spending," said Kelly A. Barnes, health industries leader at PwC.
"The overarching challenge for our health system will be to shift the internal focus from the siloed bureaucratic healthcare infrastructure that exists today to one that puts patients at the center of care and engages them to take charge of their health over their entire lifetime," Barnes said.
The report predicts doctors will be paid on outcomes in the future, and innovative approaches to preventing and managing chronic disease, such as diabetes, will rein in one of the largest drivers of healthcare costs.
"Embedded in the U.S. healthcare reform package are lesser known provisions that increase emphasis on prevention, positive health outcomes, better coordination of care and comparative effectiveness research that includes personalized medicine, paving the way for a new era of individualized care in a more patient-focused health system," researchers said.
PwC researchers aren’t the only ones predicting a healthcare boom.
Healthcare employment continues to outpace U.S. job growth generally, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Jobs in the healthcare sector increased by approximately 26,800 in March, with the biggest gains coming in ambulatory care.
A recent report by the Center for American Progress contends that healthcare reform could increase the number of overall jobs in the United States by about 250,000 to 400,000 per year over the coming decade.